Adjustable bezel assembly

ABSTRACT

A bezel assembly comprising a bezel plate having at least one elongated member projecting outwardly therefrom; a structural member having at least one opening extending therethrough; a lock plate having at least one opening extending therethrough; a catch member mounted on either the bezel plate or the lock plate; and a lock member mounted on the plate which does not have the catch member; the lock member being displaceably lockingly engageable with the catch member; the structural member being disposed between the bezel plate and the lock plate; the elongated member extending through the openings in the structural member and the lock plate.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to bezel assemblies and, moreparticularly to a bezel assembly that enables a bezel plate to bequickly and easily attached to an associated housing structure and whichenables the bezel plate to be readily aligned with adjacent structure,such as other bezel plates.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application contains subject matter related to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/295,491, filed Apr. 20, 1999 for BEZEL MOUNTINGMETHOD AND APPARATUS of Foslien, et al., filed on the same date as thepresent application, Attorney Docket No. 10990052-1, which is herebyincorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many devices used in the computer, telecommunications, electronics andother industries are mounted in sheet metal housings which are in turnmounted in a vertical rack assembly. Rack mounts have long been used inelectronics instrumentation applications to mount housings containingvarious instruments such as voltmeters, signal generators,oscilloscopes, and power supplies. The telecommunications and networkingindustry often mount switching assemblies and other components in rackmounted housings. Examples of rack mounted housings applications in thehome electronics industry include stereo components and homeentertainment center audio and video components. In the computerindustry computers and computer peripherals including mass storagedevices such as tapes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs are provided in rackmounted sheet metal housings. Sheet metal housings are also used tohouse peripheral devices such as DVD drives which are fixedly orremovable mounted in bays within a larger computer housing.

In rack mounted housings, and some other types of housings as well, anassembly known as a "bezel assembly" or simply "bezel" is attached tothe front face of the housing. In some cases the bezel has no functionother than to provide a "finished" appearance to the portion of thehousing which is visible to users. In other cases the bezel may containan opening, such as for insertion or removal of media, control knobs orbuttons, viewable displays or other functional features. However evenwith such functional bezels, the appearance of the bezel is usuallyconsidered very important to the organization which markets theassociated product. In many cases the bezel is the only feature of theproduct which the end user actually sees.

In many industries one company, generally referred to as an "originalequipment manufacturer" or "OEM", manufactures a particular productwhich it sells to other companies. Each of these other companiessubsequently sells the product under its own trademark or brand name,either to distributors or directly to end users. In such cases thecompany selling to the distributors/end users may require the OEM toprovide visual marking that identifies the product with the companyselling to distributors/end users. For products sold in housings, thisidentifying visual marking is often provided by customizing thehousing's bezel. However, producing customized bezels for its differentcustomers typically significantly increase an OEM's manufacturing costs.If the OEM simply sells the same identical product to each of itscustomers it is able to maintain relatively low production costs sincethe same machinery, tooling and production steps may be used forproducing all of the products. If the OEM produces a customized bezelfor each of its customers, separate bezel tooling must be created foreach customer and, depending upon the bezels, special assemblytechniques and/or components may be required as well.

It would be generally desirable to provide a bezel assembly of a typewhich may be efficiently and inexpensively produced in a plurality ofdifferent configurations, each having a unique appearance.

A need exists for a bezel assembly which may be quickly and easilymounted on or removed from an associated housing unit, preferablywithout using special tooling. Such a bezel assembly would beparticularly useful in OEM manufacturing operations where it may benecessary to remove and replace a bezel plates configured for onecustomer with a bezel plates configured for another customer onrelatively short notice. A need also exits for a bezel assembly whichenables a bezel plate to be adjusted with respect to adjacent bezelplates or other structure to account for tolerance stacking in housingshaving multiple attached components, such as for example a housinghaving bezel plates mounted on drawers which must be aligned with bezelplates mounted on stationary housing structures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a bezel assembly which facilitatesquick, convenient and secure attachment of a bezel plate to anassociated housing structure in a manner which enables the bezel plateto be adjusted to align it with adjacent structure and/or which enablesit to be quickly removed and replaced with another bezel plate.

Thus the invention may comprise a bezel assembly including: a bezelplate having at least one elongated member projecting outwardlytherefrom; a structural member having at least one opening extendingtherethrough; a lock plate having at least one opening extendingtherethrough; a catch member mounted on one of the bezel plate and thelock plate; and a lock member mounted on the other of the bezel plateand the lock plate and displaceably lockingly engageable with the catchmember; the structural member being disposed between the bezel plate andthe lock plate, the at least one elongated member extending through theat least one opening in the structural member and the at least oneopening in the lock plate.

The invention may also comprise a bezel assembly including: a bezelplate having opposite first and second surface portions; at least oneelongated member projecting outwardly from the second surface portion ofthe bezel plate; at least one flexible member projecting outwardly fromthe second surface portion of the bezel plate and being resilientlydeflectable between a first position and a second position; a structuralmember having opposite first and second surface portions and at leastone opening extending therethrough; a lock plate having opposite firstand second surface portions and at least one opening extendingtherethrough which defines a lock plate interior projection portionhaving a first edge surface and a second edge surface; the structuralmember being disposed between the bezel plate and the lock plate, the atleast one elongated member and the at least one flexible member beingreceived in the at least one opening in the structural member and the atleast one opening in the lock plate member; the bezel assembly having afirst operating configuration with the flexible member in the firstposition and in engagement with the first edge surface of the interiorprojection portion and having a second operating configuration with theflexible member in the second position and having an edge portionthereof in abutting engagement with the second edge surface of theinterior projection portion.

The invention may also comprise a bezel assembly including: a bezelplate comprising at least one elongated member projecting outwardly in afirst direction therefrom; a structural member comprising at least oneopening extending therethrough; and a lock plate comprising at least oneopening extending therethrough; and wherein the structural member isdisposed between the bezel plate and the lock plate, the at least oneelongated member extending through the at least one opening in thestructural member and the at least one opening in the lock plate;wherein the bezel assembly has a locked operating state wherein thebezel plate, the structural member, and the lock plate arenondisplaceable with respect to one another in the first direction andwherein the bezel plate and the structural member are hand displaceablewith respect to one another in directions perpendicular to the firstdirection.

The invention may also comprise a method of adjustably mounting a bezelplate on a structural member associated with a housing comprising:extending a stud portion of the bezel plate through an opening in thestructural member which has a periphery a predetermined amount largerthan the periphery of the stud portion; and sandwiching the structuralmember between a face surface of the bezel plate and a face surface of alock plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparentand more readily appreciated from the following detailed description ofthe presently preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, of which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of three rack mounted housing moduleshaving three identical front bezel assemblies;

FlG. 2 is a front perspective view of one of the housing modules of FlG.1 with one media drawer thereof extended;

FIG. 3 is rear perspective view of the housing module of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of a drawer bracket and a drawer bezelassembly and lock plate associated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the housing module of FIG. 2 withthe front bezel assembly removed therefrom;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of a drawer bezel assembly;

FlG 7 is a rear elevation view of a drawer bezel assembly received in adrawer mounting bracket;

FIG. 8 is a rear elevation view of a drawer bezel assembly received in adrawer mounting bracket and locked into position with a lock plate;

FIG. 9 is a front perspective of a drawer attachable plate portion of adrawer bezel assembly;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of a removable plate portion of a drawerbezel assembly of which the bottom plan view is a mirror image;

FlG 11 is a rear elevation view of the removable plate portion of adrawer bezel assembly of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a front perspective view of a central plate of a bezelassembly;

FlG. 13 is a rear perspective view of the central plate of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of a bottom chin plate of a bezelassembly;

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of a bottom chin plate;

FIG. 16 is a front perspective view of a middle chin plate of a bezelassembly;

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of a forehead plate of a bezelassembly;

FlG. 18 is a rear perspective view of a forehead plate;

FIG. 19 is a front perspective view of one configuration of a drawerbezel assembly;

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of a second configuration of adrawer bezel assembly;

FlG. 21 is a front perspective view of a third configuration of a drawerbezel assembly;

FIG. 22 is a front elevation view of two bezel assemblies mounted onassociated housing units in a two stack rack mount format; and

FIG. 23 is a front elevation view of a single bezel assembly associatedwith a single housing unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The drawing FIGS. 1-23, in general, illustrate a bezel assemblyincluding: a bezel plate 142 having at least one elongated member161-166 projecting outwardly therefrom. The assembly also includes astructural member 74 having at least one opening 92, 94, etc., extendingtherethrough and a lock plate 110 having at least one opening 114, 116,etc., extending therethrough. A catch member 122 is mounted on one ofthe bezel plate 142 and the lock plate. A lock member 176 is mounted onthe other of the bezel plate and the lock plate and displaceablylockingly engageable with the catch member 122. The structural member 74is disposed between the bezel plate 142 and the lock plate 110. Theelongated member(s) extend through the openings 92, 94, etc., and 114,116, etc. in the structural member 74 and the lock plate 110,respectively.

FIG. 1 illustrates a standard rack frame 10 well known in the art havinga top wall 12 a pair of side walls 14, 16 and an open front face 18.Rack frames of this type are available under the product designation HPRack System/E41 from Hewlett-Packard Company. A plurality of ribs 20, 22or other bracket like components and screw holes 24, 26, etc. and thelike enable sheet metal housings module units 30, FIGS. 2 and 3 to bemounted in stacked relationship within the rack frame 10. Rack framesmay be provided in various heights to accommodate different numbers andsizes of housing units. For example, the rack assembly 10 illustrated inFIG. 1 is shown having three housing units stacked therein with openspace below for the mounting of additional housing units of the sametype or different types. Each of the three housing units positioned inrack 10 have an identical bezel assembly 28 mounted thereon which coversthe front of the housing 30 and the front edge portion 29 of the rackframe 10.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 illustrate a parallelepiped shaped (box shaped) housing30 of a data storage media autochanger. The housing 30 has a top wall32, a bottom wall 34 and lateral side walls 36, 38. As shown in FIG. 5the housing 30 has a front wall 42 with left, central and right frontwall opening 41, 43, 45 respectively, provided therein. As illustratedin FIG. 3 the housing comprises a rear wall 44 having rear wall openings46, 48, 50. Each of the front and rear walls of the housing comprise aplurality of cutouts 47, 49, etc. and screw receiving bores 53, etc.provided therein.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 each of the housings 30 havemounted therein two identical media holding drawers 54 with slots 56,58, etc. therein for receiving and holding data storage media 60, 62,etc. such as tape cartridges, optical disk cartridges, CD ROMs, DVDs,etc. The media 60, 62 are moved into and out of slots 56, 58 in thedirections indicated at 64 by a picker assembly (not shown) such asdescribed in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/137,350 filedAug. 20, 1998 for MODULAR DATA STORAGE SYSTEM of Joseph White, MatthiasLester and Dave Jones, Attorney Docket No. 10971954-1 which is herebyincorporated by reference for all that is disclosed therein. The housing30 may comprise a plate 66 in its top wall if it is used as the uppermost housing in the rack. When the housing is disposed below the tophousing, plate 66 is removed. The bottom wall has a similar bottom wallplate (not shown) in aligned relationship with plate 66 which remains inplace if the housing 30 is the lower most housing in the stack.Otherwise the bottom housing plate is removed. As described in detail inthe above referenced patent application of White et al. a pickerassembly may move vertically between the housings units 30 of thestacked array in one autochanger embodiment. In other autochangerembodiments each of the housings units 30 may have a picker assemblywhich accesses data media only within that single housing. A rearportion 68 of the housing may have media drives (not shown) mountedtherein which may also be accessed by the picker assembly.

Each media drawer 54, FIGS. 2 and 3, has a front end portion 72 on whichis mounted, as by brackets, screws, clips, or any other attachment meansa bracket 74. The bracket 74, FIG. 4, has a bottom wall portion 76, acentral wall portion 78, and two lateral sidewall portions 82, 84. Thecentral wall portion 78 has a plurality of holes 92, 94, 96, 98, 102,104, 106, FIG. 7, provided therein. The holes may be rectangular inshape, each having lateral edge portions 91, 93 and top and bottom edgedportions 95, 97.

Attachment of a drawer bezel assembly 140 to bracket 74 is facilitatedby a snap-on attachment plate 110 shown in FIGS. 4 and 8. The snap-onplate 110 has a large central cutout 112 with partially rectangularupper corner portions 114, 116 and has lower rectangular shaped cutouts118, 120. Cutout portions 114, 116, 118, and 120 receive projectingportions of the drawer plate therethrough as described in further detailbelow. Large cutout 112 defines a locking portion 122 having an uppersurface 124 connected at 123 to a downwardly and inwardly slopingsurface 126 and has a lower surface 127. A tab 128 projects forwardlyfrom the plate 110 and may be provided at an upper portion thereof.

Drawer bezel assembly 140, FIGS. 2-4, 6-8 and 19-21, comprises a drawerattachable plate portion 142, best illustrated in FIG. 9, and aremovable plate portion 144, shown from the top and rear in FIGS. 10 and11. The drawer attachable plate portion 142 comprises a rear faceportion 146, FIG. 4, having bores 148, 150, etc. therein for attachingremovable plate portion 144 as with screws 152. Drawer attachable plateportion 142 has raised surface portions 154, 156 adapted to abut theforward face of bracket 74 central wall portion 78. A plurality ofrearwardly projecting stud portions 161-166 are provided at the rearsurface 160 of plate portion 142. Each stud portion comprises a lipportion 170 having an inwardly positioned vertical surface portion 172extending generally parallel to surfaces 154 and 156 and positionedrearwardly (outwardly) 174 thereof. The distance in direction 174between surface 172 and surfaces 154, 156 is just slightly greater,e.g., 0.5 millimeters greater than the combined thickness of bracket 74central wall portion 78 and plate 110 which may have thicknesses ofe.g., 1.4 mm and 1.4 mm respectively. Each lip portion 170 has lateralside surfaces 171, 173 which are separated by a distance smaller, e.g.,2.2 mm smaller, than the distance between lateral edges 91, 93 of theholes 92, 94, etc. in bracket 74 central wall 78, FIGS. 6 and 7.Similarly, each lip 170 comprises top and bottom surfaces 175, 177 whichare separated by a distance somewhat less than, e.g., 5.2 mm less than,the distance between top and bottom edges 95, 97 of the holes 92, 94,etc. in bracket 74. This size relationship between lip portions 170 andrectangular cutouts 92, 94, etc. enables a floating relationship betweenthe bracket 74 and the drawer bezel assembly 140 which facilitatesregistration with a chin plate as explained in further detail below.Also, an upper recessed horizontal surface portion 169 extendingparallel to and recessed, e.g., 2.5 mm from surface 175 limits downwarddisplacement of plate 110 as described further below.

The drawer attachable plate portion 142 of the drawer bezel assembly 140also has projecting from the rear surface thereof a deflectable memberportion 176 which is adapted to be deflected in direction 178 by snap-onattachable plate 110 downwardly and inwardly sloping surface 126 and tothereafter elastically return in direction 179 to lock snap-onattachment plate 110 in position as described in further detail below.The deflectable member portion 176 has a bottom edge surface 182 whichengages surface 124 of locking plate 110 when the locking plate is inthe locked position illustrated in FIG. 8 and further described below.

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of drawer bezel assembly drawerattachable plate portion 142. Plate portion 142 has a lower moreforwardly projecting portion 184 having a rectangular shaped front faceportion 185, a bottom face portion 186, a top face portion 188 and firstand second lateral side face portions 190, 192 respectively. A lockopening 194 may be centered in portion 184 for receiving a lock assembly195, FIG. 21 which co-acts with structure (not shown) inside the housing30 to lock the media drawer when the lock assembly is suitably actuatedas with a conventional key. The drawer attachable plate portion 142 maycomprise an upper, less forwardly projecting portion 208, which may beintegrally formed with portion 184 and which may have one or more ventopenings 209, 211, etc. extending therethrough. Upper portion 208 maycomprise a top face portion 212, lateral side face portions 214, 216which may be laterally recessed, e.g., 3.8 mm, from side faces 190, 192.Upper portion 208 may also comprise a rectangular shaped front faceportion 210 which may be recessed rearwardly, e.g., 8 mm, from frontface portion 185.

FIGS. 4 and 6-8 illustrate the manner by which drawer attachable plate142 is attached to drawer bracket 74. FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view ofplate portion 142 prior to engagement with drawer bracket 74. In FIG. 7plate portion 142 has been positioned with the rearwardly projectingstud portions 161-166 thereof extending through the openings 92, 94, 96,98, 102, 104 of drawer bracket 74. The bracket central wall 78 ispositioned in abutting engagement with raised surface portions 154, 156of drawer attachable plate portion 142. Next, locking plate 110 ispositioned as illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 8 with cutout portions114, 116, 118, and 120 receiving stud portions 161 through 164therethrough and with stud portions 165, 166, positioned below edgesurfaces 130, 132. Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the plate 110 is urgeddownwardly, 220, as by pushing on tab 128 from the position shown indashed lines to the position shown in solid lines. During this downwardmovement the downwardly and inwardly sloping surface 126 of the snap-onattachment plate 110 engages the lower portion of plate 142 deflectablemember 176 urging it in direction 178 until it clears the tip 123 oflocking portion 122, which corresponds with the engagement or nearengagement of surfaces 115, 117, 119, 121, 130, and 132 with upperrecessed horizontal surface portion 169, FIG. 4, of each of the studmembers 161-166. In other words, plate 110 is captured with respect tovertical 220, 221 movement between an abutting surface 182 ofdeflectable member 176 and abutting surfaces 169 of stud members161-166. Once positioned, as illustrated in solid lines in FIG. 8, theattachment plate 110 is also captured with respect to forward orrearward 174, FIG. 4, displacement. It is prevented from being removedin direction 174 by the abutting engagement between the rear verticalsurface portion 172, FIG. 4, of each lip portion 170 and the flat facesurface 111 of snap-on plate 110. In order to remove the snap-on plate110 it is necessary for a user to move deflectable member portion 176 indirection 178 until it clears tip 123, FIG. 4, and thereafter to slidesnap-on attachment plate 110 upwardly, 221, to a position where theplate is no longer engaged by the rear surface portion of the lipportions 170 of studs 161-166. Thereafter, the plate 110 may be movedrearwardly to remove it from the studs. Next, the drawer attachableplate portion 142 may be moved upwardly 221 with respect to the bracketplate 74 to position the upper edges 95 of holes 92, 94, etc. above thelip portions 170 of the stud portions. Finally, the drawer attachableplate portion 142 may be moved rearwardly, 174, FIG. 4, with respect tothe bracket 74 to entirely remove it therefrom.

It will be appreciated from the above description that, even though theattachment plate 110 is prevented from moving with respect to the drawerattachable plate portion 142, the drawer attachable plate portion 142 isrelatively displaceable with respect to the drawer bracket 74. Relativemovement between plate portion 142 and bracket 74 in a directionparallel to bracket central wall portion 78 due to the fact that the cutout 92, 94, 96, 98, 102, 104 in the central wall portion 78 are larger,both vertically 221, 221 and horizontally 178, 179 than the studs161-166 received therethrough. There is sufficient frictional contactbetween bracket central wall portion 78, which may be constructed fromsheet metal, and the abuttingly engaged surfaces 154, 156 of plateportion 142 which may be constructed from high strength plastic, toordinarily retain plate portion 142 in stationary relationship withrespect to bracket central wall portion 78. However, this frictionalengagement is sufficiently weak that a person of ordinary strength canmove plate portion 142 both translationally and rotationally withrespect to bracket central wall portion 78 (in translational directionsparallel to wall portion 78 and rotational directions about axesperpendicular to central wall 78. Such displacement may be necessary toalign plate portion 142 and attached removable plate portion 144 withadjacent bezel components such as central bezel plate 270 and/or chinplates 310, 330.

It will be appreciated by those having skill in the art that althoughplate portion 142 is the specifically described embodiment has six studportions 161-166 that a similar floating attachment could be providedwith one or any member of rear projections. Similarly, although member176 is shown in an arrangement where it deflects laterally, any othersnap lock configuration may be used such as, for example, an arrangementwhere member 123 projects in direction 174 rather than direction 178 andwherein member 176 moves in direction 174 and the opposite direction inorder to snap lock into position. It is also to be understood that thesnap fit relationship between plate portion 142 and attachment plate 110may also be accomplished by one or more flexible members mounted onattachment plate 110 which coact with rigid surface portion projectingfrom plate portion 142. For example, a flexible member (not shown)similar in profile to member 176 but rotated 180° could be provided onplate 110. A rearwardly projecting locking stud (not shown) similar inprofile to that of locking portion 122 but rotated 180° could beprovided on plate portion 142. The flexible member (not shown) providedon the locking plate 110 and the locking stud (not shown) provided onplate portion 142 could be constructed and arranged such that theflexible member (not shown) was deflected laterally by the locking stud(not shown) during downward displacement of the plate 110 until itsnapped laterally back to a position below the locking stud. In thisposition it would prevent the plate 110 from being moved upwardlybecause of the abutting engagement between the end of the flexiblemember (not shown) and the locking stud (not shown).

The above described mounting and dismounting of plate portion 142 fromdrawer bracket 74 would ordinarily be accomplished with removable plateportion 144 attached to drawer attachable plate portion 142. Thestructure of one embodiment of a removable plate portion 144 and amanner of attachment thereof to drawer attachable plate portion 142 willnow be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, 10, and 11. Eachremovable plate portion 144 comprises first and second bottom/top wallportions 232, 233. The plate portion 144 comprises a first lateral sidewall 234 having a first rearwardly projecting flange portion 236 havingan inter-surface portion 237 which abuts plate 142 lateral side wallportion 216 or 214 depending upon whether plate 144 is mounted on aleft-hand or right-hand drawer. Plate portion 144 also comprises asecond lateral side face 238 with rearwardly projecting flange portion240 having an inner-surface 241 adapted to abut surface 214 or 216.Plate portion 144 has a rear edge surface portion 242 comprisingportions 244, 246 associated with flanges 236, 240 respectively. Theremovable plate has first and second horizontally extending peripheralrear edge surface portions 248, 250 which are recessed, e.g. 6.7 mm,from edge portions 244, 246 and extend transversely thereof. A pluralityof screw receiving bosses 252, may be integrally formed with and projectrearwardly from the removable plate portion 144. The bosses arepositioned with respect to the lateral side face portions 234, 238, soas to be positioned in alignment with corresponding holes 148, 150, etc,in the drawer bracket attachable plate portion 142 for securing plateportion 144 to plate portion 142. The spacing between the inner surfaces237, 241 of flange portions 236, 240 is substantially the same as thespacing between lateral side faced portions 214, 216 of member 142 tomaintain lateral stability of the plate 144 when mounted on plate 142.Surfaces 248, 250 of removable plate portion 144 are positioned inabutting engagement with front face 210 of plate portion 142. Removableplate portion 144 comprises a plurality of vent openings 251, 253extending therethrough from front to rear. The plane 257 of rearperipheral wall portion 255 positioned about each vent opening ispreferably recessed e.g., 2.5 mm from the edge surface portions 248, 250which abuttingly engage plate 142. Thus, the front face 210 of upperportion 208 of plate 142 and the rear surface 259 of plate 144 and innersurfaces 237, 241 of plate 144 lateral side walls 234, 238 define aplenum chamber (manifold) 254 which is in fluid communication with bothvent openings 252, 253 in plate 144 and vent openings 209, 211, etc. inplate 142. Thus, the housing 30 is vented by air traveling through ventopenings 251, 253, etc. and 209, 211, etc. and corresponding holes inbracket 74 and snap on plate. The plenum chamber obviates the need toalight the vent openings in plate 142 with those in plate 144.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate a central bezel plate 270 having a plane ofsymmetry 271 dividing the plate into mirror image left and right halves273, 275. The plate has a front face portion 272 having a rectangularperiphery. The front face may include left and right opaque, verticallyelongated rectangular panels 274, 276 extending from the top to thebottom of the front face. The front face may also include a centralintermediate, vertically elongated, rectangular panel 278 which may betransparent. Panel 278 may extend between top and bottom opaquehorizontally elongated panels 282, 284. In some configurations thecentral transparent panel 278 may be replaced, as shown in FIG. 1, by anupper plate 277 and a lower plate 283. The upper plate may betransparent and may have a control panel 279 positioned immediatelybehind it. The control panel may have buttons 280, 281, etc. projectingthrough corresponding holes in upper plate 277. Central bezel plate 286may include a generally rectangular top face portion 286 and generallyrectangular bottom face portion 288 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Thecentral bezel plate 270 may also include a generally rectangular leftlateral side wall 292 and right lateral side wall 294. Projections 296,298, etc. and bored bosses 300, etc. and lower flange 302 having bores304, etc. therein are adapted to facilitated attachment of central plate270 to the front face 42 of sheet metal housing 30 and/or attach chinplate 310 thereto. In a typical autochanger rack configuration only oneof the bezel assemblies 28 provided on each housing would include acontrol unit. The other bezel assemblies would simply contain the singletransparent plate 278 as best illustrated in FIG. 1. The central bezelplate may be constructed from any relatively rigid, durable materialsuch as metal or high strength plastic.

FIGS. 14 and 15 illustrate a chin plate 310 which is adapted to be usedwith the bottom most one in a stacked array of bezel assemblies 28 asillustrated in FIG. 1. The bottom chin plate 310 may have a generallyflat rectangular front face portion 312, rectangular lateral side wallportion 314, 316 and a rectangular bottom wall 317. The front face mayhave a horizontally elongated bore 320 extending there through for thepurpose of power switch access. A plurality of flanges 322, etc. screwreceiving bores 324, etc. and rear projections 326, etc. are providedfor attaching the bottom chin plate 310 to central plate flanges 302 andthe housing 30. The bottom chin plate 310 is not attached to the drawerbezel assembly 140. A middle chin plate 330 which is adapted to be usedwith all bezel assemblies 28 in a stacked array, except for the bottommost bezel plate assembly is illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 16.Depending upon the slot spacing distances in a rack 10 the middle chinplate 330 may have a height greater than, less than or equal to theheight of the bottom chin plate 310. As best seen in FIG. 1 the middlechin plate 330 is configured to maintain a generally planar relationshipwith each portion of the bezel assembly 28 components that arepositioned immediately above it. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 16 themiddle chin plate may comprise a front face having a central rectangularfront wall portion 332 outer rectangular front wall portions 334, 336,and intermediate rectangular front face portions 338, 340. The outerface portions and intermediate face portions are connected by forwardlyprojecting portions 342 (only one shown). The central face portion 332may be recessed slightly from the intermediate face portions 338, 340.The middle chin plate 330 has a bottom face portion 344 a top faceportion 346 and opposite side face portions 348 (only one shown). Themiddle chin plate may have the same type of connector structure asdescribed above with respect to the bottom chin plate 310. It will beseen from FIG. 1, FIG. 22, and FIG. 23 that the chin plates 310, 330 areadapted to be positioned immediately below associated drawer bezelassemblies 140 and central bezel plates 370. The chin plates are fixedlyattached to the central bezel plates 270 and may serve as a referencestructure for alignment of the left and right drawer bezel assemblies142 which are positioned immediately above the left and right endportions of an associated chin plate. The above described structure formounting the drawer bezel assembly on an associated drawer bracket 74allows the drawer bezel assembly to "float" i.e., be displaced androtated slightly in a horizontally and vertically extending planeperpendicular to plane 271. Thus, each drawer bezel assembly 140 may behand rotated and vertically displaced if necessary to position it withthe bottom face portion thereof in the exact parallel relationship withthe top face portion of an associated chin plate 310 or 330.

FIG. 17 and 18 illustrate a forehead plate 350 which may have a smoothrectangular front face portion 352 a rectangular top face portion 354,rectangular lateral side face portions 356, 358 and a generallyrectangular bottom face portion 359. A plurality of flanges 360, 362,364 having bores 366, etc. there through are provided for attaching theforehead plate 350 to a top portion of rack 10 immediately above theuppermost bezel assembly 28 as shown in FIG. 1. Different heightforehead plates may be used depending upon rack 10 configurations or, asshown in FIG. 23 the forehead plate may be eliminated in someembodiments.

It is a feature of the bezel assembly 28 that it may be provided inmultiple different configurations (e.g., 411 shown in FIG. 1, 461 shownin FIG. 23 and 501 shown in FIG. 22) by simply changing the appearanceof bezel drawer removal plate portion 144. Drawer bezel assemblies 140having three different removable plate portions 144 are illustrated inFIGS. 19, 20, and 21. In FIG. 19 the removal plate portion 144 is thesame as the one shown and described above with reference to FIGS. 10 and11. It may be seen from FIG. 19 that this configuration 410 of removalplate 144 has a front face portion 412 which includes a flat verticallyelongated panel portion 414 and a beveled portion 416 integrally formedtherewith. The beveled portion 416 includes a plurality of horizontallyextending panel portions having parallel face surfaces 420, 422, 424,426, and 428. Between these paneled portions are horizontally extendingfront vent openings 419, 421, etc. which correspond to previouslydescribed rear vent openings 351, 253, etc. Disposed betweenhorizontally extending panel portions 422 and 424 is a horizontallyextending panel portion 430 having a recessed portion 432 therein. Sidewall portions associated with horizontally extending panel portions 422,424 have upwardly and downwardly extending recesses therein,respectively. The regions of horizontally extending panel portions 422and 424 adjacent to recess 430 may thus act as handles into which a usermay insert one or more fingers in order to pull open the attached mediaholding drawer 54, FIG. 2. It may be seen from FIG. 19 that ahorizontally extending plane of bilateral symmetry 440 divides thisfirst removal plate configuration 410 into mirror image first and secondhalves 442, 444. As a result of the bilateral symmetry of configuration410 it is necessary to have only one forming mold for producingremovable plate portions 144 for this bezel assembly 28 configuration411. The reason is that the removable plate 144 shown in FIG. 19 on aleft hand drawer of the housing may be flipped 180 degrees so thatlateral side face 238 is positioned on the left hand side thereof ratherthan the right hand side thereof. The panel portion 144 and thisconfiguration may then be used in association with the right handdrawer. It will also be appreciated that because of the bilateralsymmetry of drawer attachable plate portion 142 about a verticallyextending plane that it too may be used on either a left hand or righthand drawer. Thus, in order to provide the portion of the bezel assembly28 position between any two chin plates or a chin plate and foreheadplate it is necessary to have only three molds to produce the fivedifferent separate plates that form that portion of bezel assembly 28.In other words, both the left hand and right hand removal plates 144 ofconfiguration 410 may be formed from a single mold and both the drawerattachable plate portions 142 may be formed from a single mold. Centralbezel plate portion 270, of course, also requires a separate mold. FIG.1 illustrates the bezel assembly 28 configuration 411 in a three stackformat 446.

A second configuration 460 of removable drawer plate portion 144, FIG.20, is used to provide a second bezel assembly 28 configuration 461,FIG. 23. In this embodiment of the removable plate portion 144 a frontface portion 462 comprises two outer vertically elongated rectangularpanels 464, 468 having a plurality of ribs 470, 472, etc. extendinghorizontally therebetween. The ribs are divided by vent openings 474,476, etc. Each of the ribs may be generally flat except for the bottomrib 478 which has a partial disk shape which extends outwardly from theother ribs and provides a grippable upper surface 480 and lower surface(not shown) for facilitating opening of the attached medial drawer 54.This plate has identical lateral side faces 463, 465. This configuration460 has a vertical plane of bilateral symmetry 484 dividing it intofirst and second mirror image halves 486, 488. It will be appreciatedthat because of the bilateral symmetry about vertical plane 484 thatconfiguration 460 may be used in association with either a left hand ora right hand drawer. Thus, the portion of the bezel assemblyconfiguration 461 shown above chin plate 310 in FIG. 23 may also beprovided with only three mold cavities. To the extent that a bezelmanufacturer is manufacturing the bezel assembly configuration 411 shownin FIG. 1 it will be necessary to produce only a single additional moldin order to provide the bezel assembly shown in FIG. 23 since plateportions 142 and 270 of configuration 461 are identical to those ofconfiguration 411 as are the chin and forehead plates. The plateconfiguration 460 may also be provided to form a plenum chamber betweenit and the associated drawer attachable plate portion 142 to provide thesame venting capability as that of configuration 410. FIG. 23 inaddition to showing bezel assembly configuration 463 also illustrates anautochanger in a one stack bezel array 50.

FIG. 21 illustrates a removable plate portion 144 in a thirdconfiguration 500 which provides a third bezel assembly configuration501, FIG. 22. Third configuration 500 may be essentially identical tofirst configuration 410 except that the horizontally extending panel andvent arrangement is replaced by a plurality of rectangular holes 502,504, etc. arranged in a plurality of rows 506, 508, 510, 512, andcolumns 514, 516, 518, 520. A user may stick the tips of her fingersinto holes 502, 504, etc. in order to grip plate portion 144 to open theassociated media drawer. Third configuration 500 has a horizontal planeof bilateral symmetry of 530 dividing the panel into mirror image firstand second halves 532, 534. Like configuration 410 of FIG. 19 thisremovable plate configuration 500 may be used on the left hand drawer ina first orientation and used on the right hand drawer in a secondorientation rotated 180 degrees from the first orientation. FIG. 22illustrates bezel assemblies 28 mounted in a two stack array 540. Itwill of course be appreciated that any of the bezel assemblyconfigurations 411, 461, 501, may be provided in a single stack, twostack, three stack, or any other multi stack array. It will also beunderstood that although specific removable plate portion 144configurations have been described that any number of configurationscould be provided which enable use of the removable plate portion 144with either a left hand drawer or a right hand drawer so long as theplates have at least one plane of bilateral symmetry passing throughthem in the directions 173, 174 in which the media drawer opens andcloses.

It is also to be understood that although the specific embodimentsdisclosed each have a drawer bezel assembly 28 with a drawer attachableplate portion 142 having its viewable face portion 185 positioned belowthe removable plate portion 144 that the relative position up and downof the drawer attachable plate portion and the removable plate portioncould be reversed. It will also be appreciated that any of the drawerbezel assemblies of FIGS. 19 through 21 could be rotated 90 degreeseither clockwise or counterclockwise and be vertically elongated andhorizontally shorten. Such configuration would also provide the samefeatures of bilateral symmetry within the entire bezel assembly 28, andease of modification through changing the removable plate portion, whichis provided in the above specifically described embodiments of FIGS. 19through 21. Also, although the above embodiments have been describedwith respect to a media autochanger housing 30 having only a single lefthand drawer and a single right hand drawer positioned about a centralpanel these same basic features would be applicable to an autochanger orother device having any number of drawers with or without a stationarycentral panel. It is to be noted that in all of the bezel configurations28 shown that the entire bezel configuration 28 has bilateral symmetryabout the central vertical plane 271 of the central plate 270.

While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been described above, it should be understood that the inventiveconcepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that theappended claims are intended to be construed to include such variationsexcept insofar as limited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bezel assembly comprising:a bezel plate havingat least one elongated member projecting outwardly therefrom; astructural member having at least one opening extending therethrough; alock plate having at least one opening extending therethrough; a catchmember mounted on one of said bezel plate and said lock plate; and alock member mounted on the other of said bezel plate and said lock plateand displaceably lockingly engageable with said catch member; saidstructural member being disposed between said bezel plate and said lockplate, said at least one elongated member extending through said atleast one opening in said structural member and said at least oneopening in said lock plate.
 2. A bezel assembly comprising:a bezel platehaving opposite first and second surface portions said first surfaceportion facing forwardly said second surface portion facing rearwardly;at least one elongated member projecting rearwardly from said secondsurface portion of said bezel plate; at least one flexible memberprojecting rearwardly from said second surface portion of said bezelplate and being resiliently deflectable between a first position and asecond position; a structural member having opposite first and secondsurface portions facing forwardly and rearwardly, respectively, and atleast one opening extending there through; a lock plate having oppositefirst and second surface portions facing forwardly and rearwardly,respectively, and at least one opening extending there through whichdefines a lock plate interior projection portion having a first edgesurface and a second edge surface; said structural member being disposedbetween said bezel plate and said lock plate with said forward facingsurface portion of said structural member adjacent said rear facingsurface of said bezel plate and said rear facing surface portion of saidstructural member positioned adjacent said forward facing surfaceportion of said lock plate, said at least one elongated member and saidat least one flexible member being received in said at least one openingin said structural member and said at least one opening in said lockplate; said bezel assembly having a first operating configuration withsaid flexible member in said first position and in engagement with saidfirst edge surface of said interior projection portion and having asecond operating configuration with said flexible member in said secondposition and having an edge portion thereof in abutting engagement withsaid second edge surface of said interior projection portion.
 3. Thebezel assembly of claim 2, said at least one elongated member comprisinga lip portion having a surface portion abuttingly engaged with saidsecond rearwardly facing surface portion of said lock plate in saidbezel assembly second operating configuration whereby rearwarddisplacement of said lock plate relative said bezel plate is resisted.4. The bezel assembly of claim 3:said at least one elongated membercomprising a first rearwardly projecting surface portion; said at leastone opening in said lock plate defining at least one opposed edgesurface positioned in opposed relationship with said interior projectionportion second edge surface; and wherein, in said second operatingconfiguration, said rearwardly projecting surface portion of saidelongated member is positioned in abutting engagement with said at leastone opposed edge surface, whereby displacement of said lock plate indirections perpendicular to said interior projection portion second edgesurface and said opposed edge surface is prevented.
 5. The bezelassembly of claim 4, said at least one opening in said structural membercomprising a periphery limiting lateral movement of said at least onerearwardly projecting member to a distance of not more than 10 mm.
 6. Abezel assembly comprising:a bezel plate comprising at least oneelongated member projecting outwardly in a first direction therefrom; astructural member comprising at least one opening extendingtherethrough; and a lock plate comprising at least one opening extendingtherethrough; and wherein said structural member is disposed betweensaid bezel plate and said lock plate, said at least one elongated memberextending through said at least one opening in said structural memberand said at least one opening in said lock plate; wherein said bezelassembly has a locked operating state wherein said bezel plate, saidstructural member, and said lock plate are nondisplaceable with respectto one another in said first direction and wherein said bezel plate andsaid structural member are hand displaceable with respect to one anotherin directions perpendicular to said first direction.
 7. The bezelassembly of claim 6 wherein displacement in said directionsperpendicular to said first direction are resisted by a retention force.8. The bezel assembly of claim 7 wherein said retention force comprisesfriction.
 9. The bezel assembly of claim 6 wherein said relativedisplacement between said bezel plate and said structural member islimited by engagement between peripheral edge surface portions of saidopening in said structural member and surface portions of said at leastone elongated member.
 10. The bezel assembly of claim 6 wherein, in saidlocked operating state said lock plate is captured with respect tomovement perpendicular to said first direction between surface portionsof said bezel plate.
 11. The bezel assembly of claim 6 wherein, in saidlocked operating state said lock plate is captured with respect tomovement parallel to said first direction between a surface portion ofsaid at least one elongated member and a surface of said structuralmember.
 12. The bezel assembly of claim 6 wherein one of said bezelplate and said lock plate comprises a flexible member having a firstsurface portion and wherein the other of said bezel plate and said lockplate comprises a catch member having a first surface portion andwherein in said locked operating state said first surface portion ofsaid flexible member is positioned in abutting engagement with saidfirst surface portion of said catch member.
 13. The bezel assembly ofclaim 12 wherein said bezel assembly has an unlocked operating statewherein said first surface portion of said flexible member is positionedin nonabutting relationship with said first surface portion of saidcatch member.
 14. The bezel assembly of claim 13 wherein said flexiblemember is received through said opening in said lock plate and whereinsaid opening in said lock plate defines said first surface portion ofsaid catch member.
 15. The bezel assembly of claim 14 wherein said lockplate comprises a second surface portion of said catch member defined bysaid opening therein and wherein said bezel assembly comprises a dynamicdeflection mode of operation in said unlocked state wherein said secondsurface portion of said catch member deflectingly engages said flexiblemember in said dynamic deflection mode of operation.
 16. The bezelassembly of claim 15 wherein said lock plate moves relative to saidbezel plate in a second direction perpendicular to said first directionin said dynamic deflection mode of operation in said unlocked state. 17.A method of adjustably mounting a bezel plate on a structural memberassociated with a housing comprising:extending a stud portion of thebezel plate through an opening in the structural member which has aperiphery a predetermined amount larger than the periphery of the studportion; and sandwiching the structural member between a face surface ofthe bezel plate and a face surface of a lock plate.
 18. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising sandwiching a face surface of the lockplate between the structural member and a lip portion of the studportion.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising locking engaginga surface portion of the lock plate with a surface portion of the bezelplate.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising displacing thebezel plate with respect to the structural member in a plane of movementparallel to the face surface of the bezel plate to align the bezel platewith an adjacent portion of a bezel assembly.